Blurb：
When a brutal rape case shocks Corvessa City, Medical Examiner Evan Mercer follows protocol—only to face public outrage led by his own wife, Police Captain Claire Sutton. Accused of re-victimizing the deceased, Evan is suspended by Chief Harry Langford and demoted to security guard. But Evan knows the truth: the victim’s injuries match an unsolved case from six months ago, suggesting a serial predator is on the loose.
With his autopsy report destroyed and the evidence cremated, Evan’s expertise is the last hope for justice. But Claire’s cold betrayal runs deeper than professional rivalry. Her sudden alliance with Julian Carter—Evan’s charismatic rival—exposes a personal vendetta that threatens to bury the case forever.
As protests demand Evan’s removal, the real killer remains free. Can Evan uncover the truth before the city’s corruption consumes him? Or will Claire and Julian’s scheme silence the only man who can crack the case?
Content：
A high-profile rape case rocks Corvessa City. During the autopsy, I examine the deceased’s private area as part of the standard procedure.
My wife, a police captain, blows up in front of the onlookers. Don’t we have a female medical examiner in our unit? Do you realize you’re re-victimizing the deceased? And your wife is standing right here. Are you really that desperate?
The crowd turns on me in a heartbeat. Bowing to public pressure, the department suspends me and tells me to keep reporting in at my own expense. I hand in my resignation on the spot.
Without me, nobody in Corvessa City is going to crack this case.
Chapter 1
Evan, you’ve already put the department’s year-end reviews at risk, and people online are at the station demanding answers, said Harry Langford, the police chief.
His face hardened, and he slammed the table.
Outside the station, crowds held up banners that read, Unethical medical examiner Evan Mercer, Violates the deceased’s privacy, and Re-victimizing the deceased.
Online, the calls for me to leave the department kept piling up.
I held my ground. Chief Langford, I followed protocol that day when I performed the autopsy. The injuries were in the private area, and as the medical examiner, I had to examine that first
The police captain, Claire Sutton, entered and cut me off. Chief Langford, the crowd outside calling for Evan to be kicked out of the department keeps growing. We should issue a notice of disciplinary action against him immediately.
She shot me a sidelong look, her eyes ice-cold. Do you still think you did nothing wrong? Marrying someone this sanctimonious is my shame.
Pain spiked through my chest like needles. I stuck to the procedure during the autopsy. She was the one who spoke up in front of a crowd that didn’t know better.
That was what set the deceased’s family off. They raised hell, called me sanctimonious, and said I didn’t belong in the department.
Claire handed over a demotion notice, speaking with absolute certainty. Chief Langford, I believe we should demote Evan now and fine him 2,000 dollars per month for one year to defuse the public outrage. This is the notice I drafted. If it works for you, I’ll send it out now.
Harry took the notice, signed it briskly, and handed it back to her.
Claire fixed her eyes on me and let out a mocking laugh. Anyway, the scrutiny’s intense. To protect the privacy of the other decedents, I put in for your reassignment.
She dropped a security guard uniform in front of me. You’re posted outside the medical examiner’s office. If anything goes wrong in there, I’m coming to you first.
Claire didn’t spare me a look as she told her team to clear out the medical examiner’s office. All my stuff was thrown out. Even the autopsy report I’d just finished got chucked into the trash.
I picked it up and cut her a cold look. Claire, listen. This case won’t break without me. Run me into the ground, and you’ll leave yourself no way out.
Back during the autopsy, I’d already found trauma to the victim’s private area that matched a case from six months ago. This was very likely a serial case.
But the autopsy report had been burned, and the victim’s remains were cremated six months earlier. That report lived only in my memory.
Just when I was about to lay it out, someone entered, surrounded by a group from the front of the station.
Claire’s eyes lit up. She hurried over and hooked her arm through his. Jules, you finally made it. Harry and everyone have been waiting for you.
The second I got a clear look at him, the realization slammed into me.
I finally understood why a captain like Claire could make such a basic mistake. She’d publicly smeared me as desperate during the autopsy, which resulted in disciplinary action against me.
Julian Carter arched a brow, a smug smile tugging at his lips. It’s been a while, Evan. Thanks for looking after Claire for me. I’m back now. Your medical examiner spot, and Claire, should both come back to me.
Julian was the one Claire never got over. His name was the unspoken taboo of our five-year marriage. I’d thought she’d forgotten him, but she’d been paving the way for him all along.
At the Monday meeting, Harry held a special session for Julian’s arrival. Julian earned his PhD at a prestigious university abroad and has spent 12 years in anatomy. I’m sure his expertise will impress us in the work ahead!
Unlike Evan, who can’t resist showing off half-baked skills in public and sticking the department with bad press.
Chapter 2
Claire took Julian’s hand, her eyes bright with a smile. Chief Langford, Jules isn’t the type who smiles on the outside and rots on the inside. Everyone vouches for his character.
Hand in hand, they looked more like a long-married couple. And me, her supposed husband, stood in a security guard uniform outside the medical examiner’s office.
Julian shot me a taunting look and flung a closed-case file at me. Take me to the body. I’ll show you what real professionals do. I can tell you what happened without even doing an autopsy.
His swagger made my skin crawl.
Under Claire’s threatening glare, I forced a smile and gestured for him to go ahead. Sure, show me the miracle.
Inside the medical examiner’s office, Julian circled the body twice. Off two scratch marks, he detailed how the crime was done.
The other two medical examiners and I broke into laughter.
While Claire poured on the praise, my assistant, Ruth Greenwood, couldn’t help but say, Captain Sutton, don’t you think this is nonsense? How could Julian determine that without an autopsy?
Plus, Dr. Mercer said this case matches the one from six months back
Claire shot her an impatient look and said, dead certain, Jules studied at a prestigious university abroad. What school is Evan even from? Some diploma mill? If Chief Langford and I hadn’t gone to bat for him back then, he’d have been fired over his credentials.
It was true. My credentials didn’t stack up to Julian’s.
That was because I joined the police department right out of college as a medical examiner. I had more hands-on experience than any PhD graduate. My credentials were my weakest link, but it hardly mattered.
I laughed it off. All those degrees just mean he has no real hands-on forensic experience. Everything he threw out today isn’t grounded in reality. Claire, if you’re set on vouching for him, then we should divorce.
We’d talked about divorce more than once over the years, but every time I saw how seriously Claire worked at the department, I fell for her all over again.
I’d loved her thoroughness and sense of duty on every case. But now, I was just done.
With all the cases she’d handled, she knew better than I did how unreliable it was to infer how the crime went down from a few wounds. Still, she bought Julian’s wild guesswork.
She frowned, displeased. Are you threatening me? Evan, what makes you think our marriage gives you any leverage over me?
Julian gave a cocky grin and needled me. What, you’re acting out because I took your medical examiner slot, and you need the attention? Evan, why not just own it instead of taking shots from the sidelines?
Whether my call holds up is for Chief Langford to decide.
Claire didn’t offer a single rebuttal. She kept that dismissive look, as if convinced I was the petty, jealous lightweight Julian painted me to be.
I gave a faint smile, finally seeing Claire’s stance. Here’s my line. If you’re going to cover for him, then let’s get a divorce.
Fine! Divorce it is! Jules is back anyway. I don’t need you anymore!
Claire was busy chasing arrests to pad Julian’s record, day and night.
I took the divorce papers over. She signed them on the spot.
After finalizing the divorce, I went to tender my resignation to Harry. I hadn’t even stepped into his office when another family showed up with a body to file a report.
The victim’s condition matched the last case, which set off alarms. I was about to call for an autopsy when Julian yanked my hand and wrenched it down rudely.
Hands off. Someone like you would disrespect the deceased. Everyone, this is the medical examiner from that recent scandal, the one who took advantage of a body. He’s been demoted to a guard!
At Julian’s smug nudge, the family who’d been begging me to examine the body turned on me in disgust. So it was you! How dare you play the saint, saying you’d perform an autopsy on my daughter?
You targeted her and tried to take advantage because she was pretty, didn’t you? That’s sick! Don’t you dare lay a finger on her, not even now that she’s gone!
Chapter 3
Julian scoffed and started holding court. Don’t worry. I’ll handle your daughter. I’m nothing like him. I’ll make sure her privacy is fully respected!
Seeing the family’s cold stares, I was done. I was resigning anyway. The case was no longer my concern.
I turned to leave when Claire arrived with her squad and barked, Evan, Julian’s about to start the autopsy. Go assist him at the table. I didn’t demote you so you could loaf on the department’s dime!
Hearing that, Julian stuck out his left leg and ordered, Clean my shoes, Evan. And fetch two basins of water for handwashing. You know the rules about keeping the autopsy room sterile, right?
I snorted. Happy to.
I grabbed the floor rag, shoved it into his mouth, and punched him a couple of times until I heard his jaw pop.
You lunatic! Evan Mercer! Stop!
Claire leveled her gun at my head and said coldly, Jules put you on as his assistant, and you attack him? You must have a death wish.
A chill shot down my back. I couldn’t believe she’d go this far for Julian. She’d always kept her cool in the department. She wasn’t the type to use her badge for personal favors.
Even a year ago, when I was taken, she simply told the abductor, Go on, pull the trigger. A medical examiner is nothing to this department. But once you fire, there’s no taking it back.
This was the first time I’d seen her draw a gun, and it was for Julian.
To save my skin, I dropped into a crouch and cleaned Julian’s shoes. He let out a derisive snort and drove the heel of his dress shoe onto the back of my hand. The scrape split my skin.
But Claire didn’t even blink. You need to be taught a lesson. You think you can stack up to Jules? Keep dreaming.
It wasn’t until the crack of bone was heard that Julian finally lifted his foot.
To prove his chops, he brazenly ran the autopsy in the hallway outside the medical examiner’s office. Anyone with half a brain could tell those wounds came from a violent tear. Still, he wrote it up as a suicide.
Ruth asked, Dr. Mercer, did you also notice the cases from the last few days are connected to the one from six months ago?
Yes, but it’s no longer my concern, I answered calmly and headed for the chief’s office.
The day the chief signed off on my resignation, Julian flashed a brand-new watch at me. Evan, no offense, but it’s been days, and you still can’t crack a simple case. I walked in and finished it all.
The body they brought in yesterday was the richest man’s daughter. They asked for you by name for the autopsy, but Claire passed it to me instead. They’ve just wired a hefty sum over.
Claire looped her arm through his and gave me a mocking look. If he’d done the autopsy, we might’ve gotten the whole department written up. Sanctimonious hypocrite!
I went still for a second, remembering the family who begged me yesterday. So they were the richest family. Too bad.
Claire and Julian didn’t steal my spot on the autopsy. I passed it on.
I carried my stuff and kept moving. Well, congratulations to you.
Outside the station, I brushed past the task force from HQ. The lead official hurried over to Harry, who’d come out to greet him.
This is the fourth rape case. And your department labeled it a suicide? Where’s Evan, the one who did the autopsy on the first victim? Get him to work with us on this serial case. Now!
I got in the car, calm as ever, and headed for the airport. I was done cleaning up that mess.
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